I understand how blog comments can be misunderstood. Many of us don’t know each other and all we have to go on is a sentence here and a sentence there. It’s easy to misunderstand and get all riled up. For this is an emotional issue! However, I think we must remember we are in a battle, but it is not against flesh and blood. Certainly as we strive toward justice, being active in the here an now, we will encounter many who very may well seem to be the opposition. However, everyone on "the other side," regardless of their role, is an individual who is loved by God. We need to love them too. "Hate the sin; love the sinner" is an incredibly difficult line to walk. I wonder why my question would have been less valid had I been from "the other side"? Wouldn’t it dignify a proper response even if I was a PP employee? (Which, Paul, you provided. Thanks.)

Something that has helped my pro-life outlook is to try and see "the other side." I’ll admit, I’m far from unbias; for I will never understand why anyone would want to kill any their own baby. But I do understand why it might be frightening to be pregnant when you don’t want to be. For crying out loud, every time my wife has been pregnant, it has been the result of our deliberate attempt. Even so, this discovery has been scary every single time. I also understand why someone would be uncomfortable when the direction of their life unexpectedly changed. I’ve had that happen, never as a result of pregnancy, but it’s happened in other ways, and it’s always difficult. I also understand why it would give people the creeps if someone from "the other side" was documenting their movements. I’d be wigged out if I saw a Planned Parenthood van taking pictures of the folks coming into my church this morning. So I understand the fear I read about in the pro-abort blogs.

Yesterday my family invited some friends over for diner. Although we had never sat down and talked through the issue I assumed one of our guests was from "the other side." "Do we want to take down our tallow yard sign?", I asked my wife. Surprisingly, (for she is usually the more non-confrontational one) said, "I don’t think we should be ashamed of what we believe." I admired her courage, for I am one who likes to be liked. The evening went great and after our company left my wife sheepishly said, "She commented about our sign…" Worried, I asked, "What did you say?" As a big grin came over her face, "I said Planned Parenthood has done…" Another woman from our party heard the commotion and joined in the conversation. Both left shocked with how PP has admittedly deceived the people of our city.

As Eric said in another post, we need to be part of the community. We need to engage those around us. We don’t need to be angry with those who ask questions. We need to try and love those who God loves. We need to continue to speak the truth, in love.

Were you lying when you said you were going to ignore me? Looks like it.

And I think I'll stay awhile. It's interesting here. In a train wreck sort of way.

Sometimes particularly popular message boards and websites will become targets of attacks by those who disagree with the basic premise of the board. Here's how it works. A contrarian posts a particularly inflammatory post with the goal of derailing the thread (this is called this trolling.) The other participants then become so focused on replying to the inflammatory post that the entire thread devolves into a messy name calling game. To diffuse a trolling attempt you only need ignore the troll. Eventually after unsuccessfully trying to gain attention they will simply leave.

*Keep the discussion ON topic
*Encourage debate not attacks
**Do not feed the trolls**

Seriously, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!

It's working perfectly, because it's true. Abortion is a great option for some pregnant women. No charge for me helping you become a little more educated. You're welcome. (Even though you've already been reduced to name calling).

What a wonderful idea!